Kukla's Korner Hockey

Entries with the tag: ryan murray

Blue Jackets rookie defenseman Ryan Murray will likely miss the rest of the regular season, and the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs should the Jackets qualify, after having knee surgery yesterday.

The official word is that Murray will miss 4-6 weeks. There are five weeks remaining until the regular season ends April 12 in Florida....

The Blue Jackets lost Fedor Tyutin to an ankle injury in the Olympics. Then Murray went down. On Thursday in Chicago, Nikita Nikitin suffered a head injury. He, too, will miss tonight's game in Nashville.

But Murray's lost has cast a pall over the club for the past 72 hours.

"You lose Tyutin and take Murray out of the lineup … that’s a lot of quality minutes," Blue Jackets coach Todd Richards said. "They were playing big minutes and tough minutes.

"Ryan's a young kid, so it’s something he’ll be able to get over. He still has a long career ahead of him. The impact right now … it’s a big impact. He was a real, real bright spot for us all year."

Defenseman Ryan Murray was flattened by Kings winger Dustin Brown early in the second period. Murray and the Blue Jackets were coming out of the zone, and Murray had released the puck when Brown -- in a straight light -- launched himself into Murray, his right arm/shoulder making impact with Murray's head.

“I mean I obviously didn’t like that hit on Ryan," Blue Jackets left wing Nick Foligno said. "I thought that he was in a pretty vulnerable situation. I didn’t like that he (Brown) only got two minutes (charging) for that, but it was an emotional part of the game and we rallied around it, continued to push and keep them at bay. We were right there with them but just couldn’t find that overtime goal.”

Dustin Brown, on the hit:
It’s a fine hit for me. Whatever. At this point, I don’t know if we’re allowed to hit anymore. It’s just one of those plays where he kind of bails and I’m coming in for the hit. Whatever.

Brown, on whether “anything violent” is automatically called a penalty:
I think ultimately they’re going to go the way of the IIHF, where if it looks bad, it’s a penalty, and whether it’s a good hit or a clean hit or a hard hit, if it’s too hard, it’s going to be a penalty. I think that’s kind of where they’re going to be going. Like I said, I’m just not a fan. There’s some responsibility to protect yourself on the ice and responsibility on the other side of it. There’s certain hits I think we can all look at and say, ‘That’s not a good hit.’…It wasn’t like I targeted his head, or anything like that. It was a body check, and he happened to be a little lower than I am, so I don’t know what I’m supposed to do in that situation.

Most of them are preparing as if the NHL and NHL players' association will get a deal done in advance of a lockout, even with the knowledge that they'll be barred from entering NHL rinks as of Sept. 15 if a deal is not in place. (Lockouts are ugly, folks.)

But some of them, especially the young guys it seems, are uncertain how to proceed.

Defenseman Ryan Murray has spent the last couple of days in Toronto at the NHLPA Showcase for prospects. By his estimate, he signed "2,000 or 3,000 autographs" on Monday, most of them going to charitable causes. As for when he'll head to Columbus, that's up in the air.

This is unusual, as young players usually try to arrive early and get to know their surroundings and future teammates as much as possible before camp. Murray said he's been here once since the draft -- development camp in early July.